"Dynamite, just dynamite

THE name sums it up pretty well. Those who have seen five-piece British RnB outfit The Detonators will know exactly what I mean, if you haven't then scour your local listings, badger your local venue to book them. To coin a well-worn phrase this was the good time had by all.

The arrogance of their relative youth combined with truckloads of talent and energy made for a heady brew on Thursday night. You couldn't have got a cigarette paper between the five virtuoso performances of Paul Francis drums, Paul Corry sax, Dan McCormack keyboards, Richard Hammond on bass and James O'Hara vocals and guitars. O'Hara is a throwback to the era of a true band leader, exhorting more, or at times less, effort from individuals and cutting off a song with a wave of his hand when they had extracted as much as the music could possibly give.

All five were given, and took, their chance to shine and each displayed a mastery of their art. McCormack's joyous keyboards on Crosscut Saw  were then threatened by a bass solo from Hammond who proved that a bass player is more than the guy who stands motionless in the corner looking cool. McCormack's personal musical zenith was reached during the boogie woogie mayhem of Low Down Dog. It seems to be an ever-expanding voyage of discovery at Barrels and the sax playing of Paul Corry was simply further  proof that the mantra 'you'll never top that' will come true some time, but not yet. He twisted and soared through She's Dynamite  the sax is an emotional instrument and Corry wrung it dry. At the front of it all was James O'Hara, a man who has played with the likes of Peter Green, Geno Washington etc., it would be a fool who suggested he was not their equal, he teased and taunted his guitar to ever greater heights, from Little Red Rooster, just how many ways can you do a classic? No idea but O'Hara found another one. giving it a mean edge, through the sheer raw power of Kansas Cty to Bad Bad Whisky it seemed, no not seemed, The Detonators did find an original slant to almost everytrack  whether it was a cameo solo, or the  band in full flow, they hit the ground running and eventually disappeared over the hills.

There were times when simple description was never going to be adequate, you had to feel Nadine it had energy, passion and it was great sax. With three such strong characters as O'Hara, Corry adn McCormack all vying for space it  was bound to become a contest to see who blinked first, no one did, they just fed off each other like ravenous pirahna. Would you want to be the one who was outdone? The smiles that passed between them were of satisfaction and they'd earned the right to be a bit smug. It was cruel to take the audience to such heights and then let them fall to the subdued depths of Key.

To The Highway but the drop was cushioned by the smoky, sexy keyboard of McCormack when that was followed by the revivalist It'll Be Me and Better Watch Yourself on which the hoarse quality of O'Hara's was employed to devastating effect, the mid-song applause became the norm rather than the exception. Even the Benny Hill interlude slipped into It'll Be Me only reinforced that this was a band having a great time.

The Detonators took their music seriously but not themselves, O' Hara is a man whose serious demeanour belied a dry, acerbic wit, constantly checking the set list, asking the audience for an opinion before doing precisely what he had planned.

Their canvas may be RnB, but on Thursday The Detonators decorated it with magic and became the weavers of musical spells. They made no allowances for the size  of the venue they were loud and aggressive, they had come to take care of business and that they did. The night will live long in the memory of those privileged to hear a hard working, drum-tight band giving their all for the cause of live music."

Michael Mee

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